Malley Design

The brief called for a full brand identity system, with core apparel to launch. Crew necks, pocket tees, hoodies, trucker hats, each built around the logo, the wordmark, and Best West’s rallying cry.

Now, Midwest pride is actually a bit of a contradiction. We’d rather send you home with leftovers than trumpet our own accomplishments. How do you communicate the quiet confidence of a people who (generally!) don’t have anything to prove?

Overall, we chose vintage nostalgia with 2026 punch. Script and all-caps typography mixed together. Warm, human, graphic enough to live on a hat or a chest pocket without explanation. The cardinal became one of the brand’s most versatile marks, a nod to the regional symbol that shows up in backyards from Minnesota to Indiana.

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Trying to get something to “look Minnesotan” can quickly collapse into old cliches, like the design equivalent of telling someone you’re from Minnesota, only for them to reward you with their best impression of Marge Gunderson from Fargo.

But the Minnesota vibe feels earned. Sauna Water is confident, but understated. Here for you, but relying on substance over flash. And happy to be in 68 degrees, but right at home in the extremes of hot and cold. Just like the people who hail from the state we’re proud to call home.

“We knew we needed a seasoned design team with experience creating elevated consumer brands. The team at Malley collaborated closely with us and exceeded our expectations, delivering a brand and packaging system that supported our market positioning, design standards, and aspirations.” — Jeff Vondenkamp, Founder of Sauna Water

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If you’re a consumer scanning the aisles, you spend about 1.5 seconds on any given beverage.

And if you’re the brains behind a beverage that’s N/A, wellness, or both, you probably already felt the crowd around you. Alcohol consumption is down, alternatives are up, and the functional beverage industry is expecting to nearly double between 2022 and 2030.

With so many guests at the party, how do you get eyes to linger on you? That’s the question which came to us from Jeff Vondenkamp, the entrepreneur behind , a casual wellness beverage crafted for the salt, stress relief, and social connection that comes at 175 degrees. A successful partnership with , followed by a Star Tribune feature, led to 6 months of demand that was all ebb and no flow.

Jeff saw an opportunity to seize the moment. He partnered with us to deliver a packaging design that won attention in the aisles and gave them an image that could scale nationally while remaining true to its anti-hustle, pro-people roots.

Case Study link in bio
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